ne basket. I determined
that the proper policy was "to put all good eggs in one basket and
then watch that basket."

I believe the true road to preeminent success in any line is to make
yourself master in that line. I have no faith in the policy of
scattering one's resources, and in my experience I have rarely if ever
met a man who achieved preeminence in money-making--certainly never
one in manufacturing--who was interested in many concerns. The men who
have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it. It is
surprising how few men appreciate the enormous dividends derivable
from investment in their own business. There is scarcely a
manufacturer in the world who has not in his works some machinery that
should be thrown out and replaced by improved appliances; or who does
not for the want of additional machinery or new methods lose more than
sufficient to pay the largest dividend obtainable by investment beyond
his own domain. And yet most business men whom I have known invest in
bank shares and in far-away enterprises, while the true gold mine lies
right in their own factories.

I have tried always to hold fast to this important fact. It has been
with me a cardinal doctrine that I could manage my own capital better
than any other person, much better than any board of directors. The
losses men encounter during a business life which seriously embarrass
them are rarely in their own business, but in enterprises of which the
investor is not master. My advice to young men would be not only to
concentrate their whole time and attention on the one business in life
in which they engage, but to put every dollar of their capital into
it. If there be any business that will not bear extension, the true
policy is to invest the surplus in first-class securities which will
yield a moderate but certain revenue if some other growing business
cannot be found. As for myself my decision was taken early. I would
concentrate upon the manufacture of iron and steel and be master in
that.

My visits to Britain gave me excellent opportunities to renew and make
acquaintance with those prominent in the iron and steel
business--Bessemer in the front, Sir Lothian Bell, Sir Bernard
Samuelson, Sir Windsor Richards, Edward Martin, Bingley, Evans, and
the whole host of captains in that industry. My election to the
council, and finally to the presidency of the British Iron and Steel
Institute soon followed, I being the first president w